


Positively Green with Envy

by MSpataro210



Category: DCU (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Barry Allen and Hal Jordan friendship, F/M, Fights, Hal Doesn't Know, He's Jealous, Humor, M/M, Miscommunication, New 52, he's the butt of everyone's joke, oblivious Hal Jordan, wrong ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5070265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MSpataro210/pseuds/MSpataro210
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He has eyes, and can clearly see it.  Everyone else can too.  All the time they spend together, secret smiles and hushed conversations... he knows what they are: best friends.  Well, Hal won't sit quietly while he lets some no name billionaire tread all over his sacred position, acting like he owns the place.  He's going to get Barry back or his name isn't Hal Jordan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Positively Green with Envy

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I know I have another Barry/Bruce fic in the works (more in line with the Flash (TV Series 2014) universe) - A Butterfly Effect, check it out right here on AO3- but I couldn't help myself. I needed a break and this idea has been running through my mind for awhile now. But once I started writing it, it just developed so well. I think you'll all love it!

Positively Green with Envy

            “I don’t like the looks of this.”

            Fingers drum across the smooth titanium of the table, a small ring sliding up and down one of the slim fingers.  Masked eyes slant in observation of two figures across the room a little to close for comfort.

            “I know what you mean, I don’t even think it’s fully defrosted.”

            The man turns to his companion, delicately holding his fork as he pokes at what seems to be a type of meat.

            “I’m not talking about the food Clark,” the man stage whispers, smacking the other in the shoulder. It hurts, of course, because hitting Clark is like punching the U.S.S. Ironsides.

            “There’s not much else to talk about Hal,” Clark glumly responds, putting his fork down with enough ease as to not dent the table.  His stomach gurgles with the demand to be fed, but being the hero he is, he pats his stomach in placation: letting it know he’s saving it from a terrible fate.

            “Oh come on,” Hal bites, “haven’t you noticed… that!”  He not-so-subtly points to the two figures opposite them: red and black. Both have their cowls down, and at the moment the blonde is shaking with laughter at something the raven-haired man had said, judging by the sly smile.

            “Bruce and Barry?” Clark questions, “I don’t see how-“

            “You don’t see what’s going on?” Hal gapes.

            “Well I mean you’d have to be _blind_ not to see what’s going on there-“

            “So I’m not crazy!” Hal slumps forward onto the table, fingers gripping onto his brunet roots.  Clark looks on in discomfort, awkwardly patting Hal’s back lightly, unsure as to what to do.

            “I, uh, don’t see the problem with them being together, Hal…” Clark says, eyes darting around the room hoping to Rao someone can save _him_ this time.

            “But don’t you see,” Hal moans against the metal, “I’m being replaced!”

            “It’s actually quite-“ Clark stops.  “Replaced?”

            “What did I do?” Hal rises, hands dragging from his scalp to his face, “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?  Is it because they both have some kind of weird forensic fetish that I don’t?”

            “Whoa, whoa, slow down Hal,” Clark puts his hands up, “what do you mean ‘you’re being replaced?’”

            “I thought you said it was obvious…” Hal groused, “Barry is replacing me with Bruce as his best friend!”

            Clark waits a beat, before letting out a small chuckle.

            “I thought you would be mad, too,” Hal returns to the table, this time with his head supported on his arms, “this also means Bruce is replacing you.”

            “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Clark leans back, a knowing smile on his face, “I think what’s between Bruce and Barry is very… _different_ from what I share with Bruce.”

            “Believe whatever you want, Clark,” Hal says, standing, “but I’m not going to wait for Barry to turn me out like some cheap trick… I’m fighting back!”

            With that, Hal storms out of the room, passing a very confused Wonder Woman on his way. Clark waves to her, inviting her over. She sits down close, about the same distance away as Barry and Bruce.

            She jerks her chin at the door. “What was that all about?”

            Clark smiles, grabbing her hand, “Just Hal promising for an interesting next couple of days…”

            “How fun,” Diana returns his smile, tightening her hand around his.  “Listen,” she continues, “I heard about this new restaurant in D.C. and was thinking we should go… only problem is they only seat guests of four or up…”

            Clark looks over at the only other occupied table, who apparently were not disturbed by the Green Lantern’s outburst.

            “You know,” Clark says, “I think I might know some people who’d like to come with…”

* * *

 

            “No good, rotten Batman,” Hal says, flying over the dim night skies of Gotham City, “with his pointy ears and his money and his… whatever it is that Barry likes more than me!”

            He decided that before he acts, he might as well get some dirt on the Dark Knight.  Show off that he has some detective skills as well.

            ‘ _Maybe, if I prove I’m a better detective than he is_ ,’ Hal thinks, ‘ _Barry will admire me instead of him!_ ’

            He’s zipping through the sky, light on a low-wattage ( _camoflauge_ ), trying to find something.  It’s hard to spot anything this night, with the moon waxing above him and the only smidgen of its celestial glow hidden behind grey clouds.  Even the artificial light seemed to be less tonight, which is odd for such a city like Gotham.

            But maybe that’s an advantage, as Hal can see the bright red blur through the smog and _not_ mistake it for a high-wattage sign.

            “Barry-!” he whispers, watching his best friend (for now) speed across the rooftops.

            He follows as fast as he can, but not so much that he will be noticed.  Thankfully, Hal can see the red stop on one of the many skyscrapers that grew from the concrete.  He slowly descends, and notices that Barry isn’t alone on the rooftop.

            He’s talking to a figure marred by the shadows, only a flittering cape peaking out the only indication of who it might be.  But then Barry grabs for something within the darkness and pulls out the last person Hal wants to see with Barry.

            He only gives it a couple of seconds, and when he sees them start to get _too_ close Hal decides it’s been long enough.

            “Batman! Flash!  What are the odds?”

            Hal floats down, on his brightest setting, disturbing the two.  Barry’s first expression is nervous shock before slipping into an “easy” smile. Bruce, however, gives his usual disdained disgruntled glance in Hal’s direction.

            “Lantern,” he grouses, “ you’re too bright.”

            “Whoops, sorry Batsy,” he bites, turning down the setting once he’s finally on the ground, “must not have noticed.”

            “Hal,” Barry moves forward, “what-uh, what are you doing here?”

            Hal shifts his smile to Barry, a bit more honest but still sarcastic: “Just flying around, when I spotted my _best_ friend and my… well, and I decided to stop and say hello.”

            Bruce frowns even harder over Hal’s passing comment, while Barry can only shift his eyes between the two. It’s not hard to see the beginnings of a fight being laid out, and Barry doesn’t want to be stuck in the middle of another row.

            “Any reason you were flying through Gotham when you could be,” Bruce acidly asks, “anywhere else?”

            Hal’s smile is poisonous: “Well sometimes I just love to fly around cities where their heroes are scarier than their villains.”

            Barry can tell neither of the two is backing down.  He scrubs a hand over his face and looks away, only to spot a slim figure sliding into an open window.

            “Uh, guys?” he interrupts.

            “What?” they both ask: Hal’s impatient and aggravated but Bruce’s surprisingly soft and inquisitive.

            “I think we have a bigger problem on our hands.”

            Bruce moves closer to the ledge where Barry is, Hal frowning at how Bruce looks over Barry’s shoulder, gaze following the path Barry’s finger points out.

            “Robbery,” Bruce tells the assembled men, “that’s the penthouse to a member of the Falcone family. Apparently he’s supposed to be holding some valuable jewelry in his home safe… and is out of town for the weekend.” He grabs his grappling hook from his utility belt and shoots a sly look in Hal’s direction.  “Try not to scare them off with your night light.”

            With that, he shoots across the divide, letting go at the exact moment to propel himself into the cut hole.

            Hal fumes silently while Barry looks on with an exasperated smile.

            “Oh I’ll show him,” Hal lights up and shoots into the opening like a bullet.

            The smile only grows fonder on Barry’s face.  He shakes his head before joining the other two before they let the criminal slip away because they’re too busy fighting each other.

            Although, maybe seeing Hal and Bruce duke it out would have been better than _who_ they have caught red-handed… or clawed.

            “Must be my lucky day,” she purrs, “three men, and only one little ol’ me.”

            Catwoman plays with the ruby in her hand, standing with a confidence she won’t be caught.

            “Selena,” Batman starts, “I thought you were going straight these days.”

            “Can’t say the same to you, Batman,” she pauses, giving the Flash a quick once over, “but you know I’m a sucker for an easy mark.”

            Batman starts to move forward, but Green Lantern has other plans.  Deciding to get the jump on him, he constructs a green hand and secretly shoots it out to catch Selena before she can escape.

            Unfortunately, she sees the green energy at the last second and jumps forward into the grip of Batman. The hand, however, does not dissipate, and continues its path until colliding with a very fragile, very expansive vase, precariously placed on the pedestal.  Now, it lies smashed on the also expensive Oriental Carpet.

            “Hey! What’s going on here-?!?”

            Two goons poke their heads through the door at the sound, but pause when they notice how full the room is: the room that was supposed to be _empty_.

            “Shit,” Selena swears, only audible to Batman because of how close her lips were to his ears.

            The hired help react, pulling the firearms dangling at their sides to the front, and begin firing.

            Batman pulls his cape over himself and Catwoman while Green Lantern produces a force field. The Flash, however, rushes forward. He dodges the bullets as if they were being shot through molasses, and grabs the guns from the men before slugging them over the heads of their owners.

            The two men crumple instantly.

            “I thought you said this place was empty!” Lantern accuses Batman, letting the force field dissolve as his concentration is on someone else.

            “I said the owner was gone I didn’t say it was empty!” Batman bites back, glaring at the space cop.

            “Uh, Br-I mean, Batman?” Flash asks, glaring at the Dark Knight’s hands.

            “Yes?” he turns to the Flash, quickly shifting from annoyance to another… _nicer_ emotion Green Lantern can’t pin down.  The niceness, however, is lost on the Flash.

            “We are out of danger,” he grumbles, “so maybe we can _detain_ the thief properly now?”

            “What?” Batman asks.

            “I think he means it’s time for you to let go bat boy.”

            Selena pats at Batman’s forearm, not leaving her hand on there for to long in fear of what that look in Flash’s eye might mean.

            Batman startles, not realizing Selena was still there, and lets her go.  She dusts herself off before moving towards the window.

            “It’s been fun, boys, but I need to get going!” she salutes, slipping into the night as easy as she put on her costume before coming.

            No one stops her. Batman is distracted trying to catch Barry’s eye, mouth twisted into some sort of an apology. An apology for what, Green Lantern doesn’t know.

            “You know,” Barry says, following Catwoman’s path, “I think I have to be home now. Work tomorrow, you know how that is.” His tone is so icy Hal shivers when he passes.

            “Flash-“

            But it’s too late. He’s gone before any other word can be spoken.

            Hal whistles, deciding to join Batman where he stands.

            “Boy he must be furious,” Hal jokes, loving every second of this moment, “it doesn’t take that much to get him mad, but when he does… oh, man.”

            “Aren’t you supposed to be an ass somewhere else,” Bruce straightens, fixing him with an even angrier look than before.

            Hal puts his hands up in defense: “I get it.  I’ll leave you be. Besides, I understand if you want some alone time with Little Miss Kitty back there: she seems to have a thing for you.”

            He flies out there without another word, but he will say he did have a good laugh at the way Bruce screamed at him while he was leaving.  He couldn’t quite make out the words, but anytime he gets on Bruce’s nerves is always a good time.

* * *

 

            Climbing up the stairs, Hal whistles a jaunty tune.  In his hand is some food from Barry’s favorite Chinese place, having caught the delivery guy just outside the apartment.  He was able to convince the kid to let him deliver it, and thankfully he was too tired to argue.

            It’s been about a week since Barry’s cold storm in Gotham, and Hal’s sure it’s been enough time he won’t be snapping at anyone except the person he’s mad at.

            And that extra thought makes the smile on his face shine brighter than his ring after being fully charged.

            Hal knocks on the door.

            He can hear the padding of feet on the other side, and a muffled voice.

            The door opens. “How much do I owe you,” Barry looks up, “Hal?”

            The first thing that strikes Hal as odd is how the minute Barry realizes he’s there the opening of his apartment suddenly shrinks until the only way through would be to go through Barry.

            Hal holds up the food: “Decided to drop in by surprise.  Saw the guy and recognized it was your order from smell alone: best friend or what?”

            “Thanks Hal,” Barry takes the food from his friend, a little creeped out by Hal’s overly peppy smile, “But I wished you called, my place is a mess, it’s not really fit for company-“

            “Barry what’s taking so long?”

            The smile drops from Hal’s face as if the strings holding it up were cut.  Hal knows that voice, the only thing he doesn’t know is _why_ he’s here.

            “Hal, before you-“

            It’s too late, as Hal pushes past Barry to find two things: one, Barry’s apartment was not a mess, and two, Bruce on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table, in a simple shirt and sweatpants.

            Bruce glares from his seated position: “Hal.”

            “Bruce,” Hal responds, mirroring his expression.

            “So much for a relaxing day in…” Barry mutters, placing the bag on the table while he gets some plates.

            “What is he doing here?” Hal turns to whisper to Barry, uncaring of being rude to the third party.

            “He’s here because I want him here,” Barry tells him, pulling out three bowls.  Barry himself is in a white tank top and shorts, something Hal casually remembers as the normal Barry Allen pajama set from the last time he woke him a bit too early.

            “I thought you were mad at him?” Hal accuses Barry.

            “I was,” Barry informed, “but he explained what happened and I forgave him.”

            “That still doesn’t explain why he’s here!” Hal says louder this time, throwing his hands up in the air.

            “I have a better question: what are you doing here?” Bruce asks from his station, flipping through the television like he doesn’t care at all for what’s going on six feet away from him. And he really doesn’t.

            “For your information, I’m here to hang out with _Barry_ ,” Hal remarks.

            “Well, maybe another time,” Bruce says, “he’s kind of busy at the moment.”

            Barry stalls putting the other half of his meal into the third bowl, waiting for Hal’s reaction. Hal smiles cruelly, a certain plan in place.

            “Well, too bad today’s my only day-off,” Hal moves forward, “plus this might be a good bonding experience for the _three_ of us.”

            Hal plops into the space directly next to Bruce, kicking off his shoes to join Bruce’s feet on the table. The only open spot left, however, is next to Hal.  If Bruce is angry about this, well, he doesn’t hide it.

            Barry rejoins the others with bowls in hand, mouth falling slightly as to where Hal has placed himself. But the smile on his face is back in an instant, taking care in sitting in the open space.

            “So,” Hal digs in, “what’s the agenda for today?”

            “Well,” Barry starts, “we were going to watch some movies…”

            “Great!” Hal takes the remote from Bruce’s hands, “I know the perfect one that you’ll just _love._ ”

            Hal flips through the catalogued list of movies before finding the one he wants.  Clicking it, he lets the remote go and leans back into couch. During the opening credits Hal snakes his arm over Barry’s shoulders to pull him into a friendly noogie.

            “Isn’t this great,” Hal asks, “just us friends hanging out.”

            Hal can feel the heat on the back of his head when Barry meekly replies, “You bet…”

            And this is how the scene looks many hours later.  Barry watches the credits roll by, eyes half-lidded and his head resting on the palm of his hand. Hal wipes the tears from his eyes where he laughed to hard from the end of the movie.  Bruce sits, arms crossed, fuming in silent anger: his bad mood only grew the longer Hal stayed.

            “Boy that was a good one, right Barry?” Hal elbows Barry, jostling him from his position. He’s so startled he almost drops his head on the armrest.  Almost.

            “Wha-“ he rubs his eyes, “Oh, yeah, it was pretty good.”

            “I found it all to be quite boring,” Bruce interrupted, “they all seemed to follow the same plot.”

            “And what would that be, world’s greatest bore?” Hal asks with a smile, hoping he caught the hidden threat of his plan.

            “Two friends almost getting separated by a girl, then reuniting at the end,” Bruce tells him, cold blue eyes telling Hal that Bruce got the message.

            “Sorry, it’s my favorite type of movie,” Hal laughs, “something that can _easily_ be based on real life.”

            Bruce’s frown deepens: “And just what are you imply-“

            “Boy, would you look at how late it is?” Barry yawns dramatically from his seat, bringing the other two men back from the center of the ring.

            “Well, time does fly when you’re having fun!” Hal jokes to Barry, standing with him.

            “No wonder I felt like twenty years had passed,” Bruce wryly comments from his seat.

            Hal glares at Bruce, then at Barry, feeling betrayed by the snort that erupted after the millionaire playboy’s biting comment.

            “We’ve got to do this again sometime,” Hal tells Barry as he walks with him to the door, “maybe without the wet bat-blanket over there.”

            “Maybe,” Barry laughs, but to Hal’s ears it sounds false.

            “Hey, how’s _he_ getting home-“

            “Text me when you get back to Coast City, Hal.  Until next time!”

            The door slams in front of his face, and the smile falls again from Hal’s face.  He turns sharply on his heel and almost directly into an elderly woman.

            “Sorry ma’am,” he tells her, “I was distracted.”

            “Because of those two men in there?” she asks, “it’s a shame, isn’t it.”

            ‘ _Lady you don’t know the half of it…_ ’

* * *

             At the Watchtower, Clark and Diana talk in front of the monitors, Diana keeping one eye on them in case there’s any emergency.  However, their private discussion is interrupted when Green Lantern passes by with a manic glint in his eye.

            “I’m sorry Diana,” Clark tells her, “I think I need to handle this.”  He kisses her on the forehead before moving towards his friend.

            “Hal,” he warns getting closer, “if you’re thinking about doing anything crazy: don’t.”

            “I’m not doing anything,” Hal says, “…yet.  I’ve got this plan-“

            “Oh no.”

            “But I have to wait for there to be an-“

            “Emergency!”

            Diana looks towards the two men, face illuminated by the flashing red screens.  Hal smiles before smothering it with a look of urgency and concern.

            “What’s going on?” he asks, following Clark as they move closer to the monitors.

            “A group of meta-humans are tearing through Atlanta,” Diana says, fingers speeding a top the keyboard, “I’ve already contacted Cyborg and he’s collecting Batman, Flash, and Shazam as we speak.  They’re going to meet us there.”  She flies from the seat towards the transporters, followed by Hal who flashes Clark a cheeky thumbs-up.

            “This isn’t going to end well,” Clark smacks his face with his hand.

            “Clark, we need to-“

            “Coming!”

            Instantly, the trio is on the scene.  They first see the smoking rubble and empty streets, before focusing in on the battle. The rest of their team is there, and handling the fight pretty well.  Cyborg is blasting at one of the women as she flies around him, firing her own laser blasts from a weapon on her wrists.  Shazam is in a bout with another man who takes each blow… and gives it back tenfold.  Flash zips around a couple, the man spraying heat and the woman blasting ice.  Finally, Batman dodges the attacks of a giant monster of a man.

            Green Lantern is instantly upon the monster man, deciding this would be another opportunity to show Batman up. Wonder Woman and Superman fly to help out in any way they can.

            “That’s enough from you, young lady,” Wonder Woman lassoes the flying girl, trapping her for Cyborg’s blast to finally land its mark.  She falls, only to stop suspended in the air by the Lasso of Truth.

            Green Lantern produces cuffs from his ring, and captures the monster’s wrists in his hands as he’s about to strike Batman with a two-fisted blow.

            “Hey big guy,” Lantern says, picking him up, “as much as I would like for you to squish the competition, I have this thing against winning by murder.”  He slams the monster back down with enough force (and an extra two more times for good measure) so that the criminal is unconscious.

            “You’re welcome Bat…man,” Hal starts, only to notice Batman has moved on to help Flash take on the temperamental twins.

            Batman dodges blast after blast before socking the women in the face with a good right hook, taking her down in an instant.  Flash, on the other hand, had led the fire man into the path of a hydrant. He knocks the cover off, dousing the villain with a distraction, letting the Flash knock him out seconds later. He speeds back to Batman, smiling at him.  And when Batman smiles back, that only twists the knife in Green Lantern’s back harder.

            “It looks like Superman and Shazam may need our help!” Wonder Woman calls over, and the group looks over to see how the last fight was progressing.

            Not very well.

            Apparently the absorbing man could also fly, and is now confounding two of the strongest members of the team.

            “Converge on him!” Batman shouts, running towards the fray.  The others follow suit, Wonder Woman flying overhead, Cyborg steps behind Batman, and the Flash running up the nearest skyscraper.

            “Converge on him!” Hal mocks, “You’re not the boss of me.”

            He soon follows the others.

            “He’s smart,” Superman tells Shazam, “we need to think of a better plan then just hitting him over and over again.”

            “I have an idea,” Shazam grins, “let’s hit him with something too strong!”

            “Shazam, no!” Superman orders, but is too late to stop their brashest member.

            Shazam flies, waiting for the right moment.  When he is directly above the criminal he calls out for the lightning, hearing its signature crackle. In the next second, he’s gone, leaving the villain to bear the brunt of the hit.

            The lightning hits the man, knocking him down a few feet, but not out.  Instead he cackles, laughing while his body convulses with the power, before blasting it forward directly at Superman

            Superman dodges in time… the blast hitting the building behind him.

            The Flash, unfortunately has no time to react.

            The concrete underneath him crumbles and he starts to descend.  He’s knocked on the head by a falling brick, unconscious in the rubble.

            “Barry!” Batman yells, re-directing his attention from the fight to the falling hero. He grabs for his grappling hook and fires.

            ‘ _Not this time, Batman,_ ’ Hal thinks, also re-focusing himself to save his friend, his plan coming together.  While obsessing over new ways to improve his friendship with Barry, he realized that the reason Barry must hang out with Bruce is because of the hero worship. Hal remembers how whenever Barry is in danger, Bruce is always the one coming to his rescue. He figures, if he shows Barry he can be his knight in shining, green armor, that Bruce doesn’t deserve to be idolized.

            “I’ve got him Batman, don’t worry!” Hal shoots energy out of his ring, going to form a protective barrier around Flash.

            “Watch out!”

            Wonder Woman crashes into Green Lantern, knocking him forward and moving the path of his beam. Instead of encasing Flash in the swath of green energy, he has trapped Batman, who is now forced to watch as the rubble encases the Flash and he can do nothing.

            “Oh no,” Lantern breathes, descending down to where the rubble sits.  The bubble around Batman fades, and he jumps out towards the pile, pulling rocks away, digging for the Flash.

            Back at the fight, Superman has the bad guy in a sleeper hold.  He laughs, “At least I was able to take down one’s of ya…”

            Suddenly, a ray shoots over his face, and in an instant he was out cold.  Superman lets go and looks to his left to see Cyborg with his arm raised, weapon out.

            “I recalibrated my sonic cannon towards a frequency that scrambled whatever part of him that was keeping him awake,” he explains, returning his cannon back to the form of an arm. Superman nods, but then joins the rest of the team by the rubble just as Batman was able to pull Flash out of it.

            Flash is on the ground, costume cut in many places across his body.  Batman’s eyes are filled with an anxiousness no one has seen before as his finger’s tremble across the pulse point.  But when he feels what he wants, he lets go of the breath he was holding.

            But then the fear quickly turns into anger.

            “What the hell do you think you were doing!?!” he rounds on Green Lantern, stalking towards his teammate.

            “Hey,” Lantern backs up slightly, “I was only trying to help.”

            “You saw me,” Batman continues, voice rising, “I was practically there!”

            “You don’t corner the market on saving the Flash, Batman!” Hal stops and confronts him, voice rising as well, “Sorry if I can’t save my friend, too!”  
            “If you were really his friend you’d stop acting like an ass and get over whatever it is you have against me!”

            “Oh sure, I’m the one that has something against you.  Like you aren’t the bad guy here.”

            “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

            “Typical!”

            “Br-Bruce…?”

            The slow voice startles the two men out of the fight, and soon enough Batman ignores Green Lantern to focus on the Flash, who is only now stirring into consciousness.

            “Barry, it’s okay… let me help,” Batman kneels down, helping the Flash by slinging his arm over his shoulder and carrying him up.  Green Lantern looks on in disgust.

            “What… happened?” Flash asks, the hand not being held in a supportive vice by Batman cradling his bleeding head.

            “You were hit,” Batman explains, “you were knocked unconscious and crushed under the debris. I tried to save you, but-“

            “But he got in the way while _I_ was trying to save you!” Lantern cut in, interrupting the moment between the other two.

            “Why?” Flash asks, oblivious to the bad blood between the other men, “if Batman was handling it-“

            “Batman, Batman, Batman,” Green Lantern mocks, “God why does the Batman have to save you all the time!”

            At this point it’s only the three of them left in the conversation.  The others noticed how it was all starting to go south and split up to either help the police with booking the perpetrators or cleaning up from the fight.

            “I don’t understand,” Flash asks, eyebrows pulled down in worry and confusion, “what’s the problem with Batman?”

            “It’s not him I have the problem with, for once,” Green Lantern confesses, “it’s _you_ and Batman.”

            The shift on Flash’s face is instant.  He slips on a blank mask, and Lantern can already tell he’s lost him for his honesty.

            “I don’t like seeing you together,” Green Lantern continues, “it’s just not right-“

            “Hal,” Flash stands, body healed enough for him to do it himself, “I’m leaving.  And I don’t _ever_ want to speak to you again.”

            With that, he’s gone in a flash.

            Lantern turns, “What did I say-?”

            Batman throws a jab, hitting Green Lantern right in the jaw.  He folds into himself, hand holding his bruised jaw, looking up at Batman as he cracks his knuckles.

            “Bigot.”

            Batman turns, heading in the direction of where Cyborg avoids the scene by talking to some of the police.

            Green Lantern can only look on in confusion, asking the same question over and over in his mind:

            ‘ _What the hell just happened?_ ’

* * *

 

            Hal once again sits in the cafeteria, silent, unfocused on the conversation around him.

            “What do you think Hal?” Diana asks him, only to shock him out of his reverie.

            “Huh?” he says, “Oh, sorry Di, I wasn’t listening.”

            “What’s the matter?” Clark leans forward, “you’ve been spacey for the past couple of days.”

            Hal breathes out in frustration, leaning onto the cool metal of the table.  “It’s just… I made Barry really angry.”

            “Barry will forgive you,” Diana grabs his hand in comfort, “if there’s anyone with enough forgiveness in his heart… it’s him.”

            “I don’t think so, Diana,” Hal says, “he told me to _never_ speak to him again.”

            “What did you do?” Clark asks, although being born with the unfortunate gift of super-hearing, he already knows what happened.  He asks only as a pleasantry.

            “I was just being honest,” he says, mind replaying the fateful day’s conversation, “I said I don’t like them together, then Barry get upset, Bruce punches me and calls me a bigot. Me!  A bigot!  Just because I’m the one who’s upset for being replaced as Barry’s best friend!”

            “What!” Diana laughs, startled, “What did you just say?”

            “I said Bruce is replacing me as Barry’s best friend,” Hal repeats, only for Diana to continue and even increase her laughter.  She’s facedown on the table, pounding her fist against the metal as tears begin to streak down her face.

            “Bruce… Barry’s best friend?!? I-I can’t!” she breathes between laughs from her position.  Clark chuckles a bit too, more at Diana’s reaction than Hal’s story.

            “Gee, thanks Diana, I always knew how compassionate you can be,” Hal bites at Diana as she tries to control her laughter.

            Clark finally decides to put Hal out of his misery, and places a hand on his shoulder.

            “Hal, she’s not laughing at you.  Well- I mean… scratch that. She is laughing at you. I am also laughing at you.”

            “Well aren’t you two just the greatest friends in the world!” he tosses his hands up in the air in frustration.

            “But,” Superman continues, “it’s only because you’re being an idiot.”

            “I don’t follow,” Hal says, “I mean, I get the idiot part, it’s not the first time, but what am I being an idiot about?”

            “Hal,” Superman starts, “is there any time, any time at all, where you have seen Bruce and Barry in a situation that _friends_ normally wouldn’t do?”

            “I’m still confused,” Hal hangs his head.

            “Have you seen them do something that wasn’t _just_ something two friends do?”

            “I’m totally con-wait.” The green light flashes behind his eyes in realization.

            “Oh.”

            He puts his hand over his mouth.

            “But-“

            “…Oh.”

            “ **Oh.** ”

            “Yeah,” Clark laughs, him and Diana enjoying their friend realizing what a dunce he’s been.

            “You mean they’re-“

            “Yes,” Diana answers, “otherwise that would have been a very awkward double date we shared a few days ago.”

            Hal lets it sink in, all the times he’s seen them together, what they were doing, and how they were acting.

            No wonder Flash got mad at Catwoman, and at Batman.  And the clothes they were wearing in the apartment!  He was going to spend the night _again_. Bruce saving Barry isn’t because he wants to be the hero all the time it’s because he wants Barry’s d-

            “I’m an idiot.”

            “That’s putting it lightly.”

            The trio turns their heads as Bruce enters the room followed by a stone-faced Barry.

            Hal gets up, “Barry-“

            “He still doesn’t want to speak to you,” Bruce interrupts, blocking the Lantern’s path to his best friend.

            “But I need to speak to him,” Hal pleads, “I need to apologize.”

            Barry’s face twitches slightly before falling back into his mask of indifference.

            Bruce turns to Barry, only to move when Barry nods his head.  Hal quickly closes the difference.

            “I am so sorry,” Hal starts, “I did not mean what I said.  Well, I mean I did mean what I said, it’s just not in the way you think it means and-“

            “You’re blowing this,” Barry tells him.

            “Right, sorry, look,” Hal continues, “I don’t care who you date, whether it be a woman or an old grouse like Bruce here.  I really didn’t mean it the way I said.”

            “They why did you say it?” Barry asks, eyes less hard than before, but still angry, “Why say it, and as a matter of fact why were you interrupting Bruce and I these past two weeks?”

            “Well, I… uh,” Hal says, “promise you won’t laugh?”

            “Hal, come on,” Barry rolls his eyes, “I won’t laugh.”

            “I, uh, thought Bruce was trying to replace me as your best friend.”

            Laughter erupts, but this time it comes from the Caped Crusader.  Hal shoots him a look.

            “What,” Bruce responds cheekily, “I didn’t make a promise.”

            “Whatever,” Hal tells him, “I just hope we can be friends again.”

            Barry gives him a smile, “The best.”

            Barry opens his arms for a hug, and Hal jumps into it, happy for the confirmation that the fight is over.

            “Just,” Barry continues, “please don’t interrupt our dates ever again.  And let Batman save me, please.”

            “Deal,” Hal releases Barry, before another thought occurs to him, “Oh, and your neighbor is the bigot, not me.”

            “We know,” Barry confirms, “we’ve been trying to get Mrs. Leibowitz to like us but… when she catches you in the elevator while you’re-“

            “I don’t want to know the end of that story!” Hal backs away faster than the Flash himself. The other four in the room laugh at Hal’s embarrassment.

            Bruce moves forward to grab Barry’s hands, and Hal doesn’t know why he’s never noticed how well they just _fit_.

            ‘ _Maybe I should get my head examined_?’

            “If you’ll excuse us,” Bruce tells those assembled, “we only stopped in here to grab Barry a snack before we head out.”

            “Where are you two going?” Hal asks.

            Bruce smirks as he pulls away with the Flash.

            “The elevator.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wasn't it just grand! I had a lot of laughs while writing it, and I hope you had a lot while reading!  
> Remember to leave kudos and notes, as they just brighten up my day!


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